Siggers' sprained ankle..

[GODANESGO]

According to the TU blog, Siggers sprained his ankle in Wednesday's practice. Sounds a bit more serious than Jamar's sprain, as Coach Brown's planning on not having him for tomorrow against Cornell. Replacement starter might be Iati, Ross (there ya go haggy!), or even Reid. Hopefully it'll be healthy enough for him to play, but as Coach Brown mentions, the important thing is to have him ready by Jan. 3rd for the AE opener against UNH.

[haggyland]

I was already thinking about how Siggers' misfortune could affect Ross's playing time. Should be a good game on Friday, and of course, Free Carl Ross.

[UAalum72]

Danes may need to call on reserves - Times-Union

[NYR]

I'd like to see Ross get a chance to start with Anderson keeping the roll he is currently in. Hopefully Lillis decides his offense is needed with Siggers out.

What would be fun is giving Connelly the start and playing big...but that's not going to happen.

 

One comment on the St. Bonaventure game...I was listening on the radio and was a bit concerned about coach's comments regarding Gifford. Brown was asked about Gifford not seeing playing time because of foul trouble. Brown said something along the lines of 'St. Bonaventure went small so Gifford wouldn't have seen much playing time anyway'. I am of the theory that as a team you want to dictate tempo and style of play. Coach's quote was an admission that St. Bonaventure was dictating style. I'm sure this is not a huge deal but just something I’m keeping my eye on. When conference play starts we should be able to play the personnel we want and have teams react to us.

[UAalum72]

Front page in today's Gazette - Brown says every AE coach would take Jamar over any other player in the league. Says he has to work on leadership, focus, and eliminating silly mistakes and breakdowns.

 

Also 'We've been focusing on getting our perimeter guys to rebound more, but our big guys are blocking out to help them out. We keep effort stats.... It might surprise some people that Brett Gifford blocks guys out more than 80 percent of the time. He keeps his guy off the glass so that the guards can get into the paint.'

[Dane Pound]

I'm sure there are a lot of things going on that I miss. One of the things I've noticed and liked about Covington is that he seals off his man off when the guards (usually Jamar) are driving to the basket.

 

I agree with NYR about the playing small thing. It seemed like when Albany was undersized in the frontcourt our opponents pounded the ball inside ruthlessly. I'm hoping Giffords offensive game will get to that point.

[haggyland]

The pre-game show had the interview with Brown who said that Siggers's likely replacement would be either Iati or Reid, with no mention of Ross.

About five minutes to go in the first half, and still no playing time, but UAlbany has small lead.

[Dane Pound]

I thought Ross would come for defense at the end of the game. He didn't get it at all did he? Funny for the second year in a row we're rooting for a Juco guard to play more. Last year Siggers, this year Ross.

[daneguy04]

I thought Ross would come for defense at the end of the game. He didn't get it at all did he? Funny for the second year in a row we're rooting for a Juco guard to play more. Last year Siggers, this year Ross.

 

Hoefully this years version will come in just as handy come conference time!!

[haggyland]

I thought Ross would come for defense at the end of the game. He didn't get it at all did he? Funny for the second year in a row we're rooting for a Juco guard to play more. Last year Siggers, this year Ross.

 

DP, I waited patiently all game, but to no avail. I guess Ross is still in the coaching purgatory zone between active and overly aggressive, and the staff is not as comfortable with him. I have my shirt printed and ready to go for the AE opener against UNH. While I would like to post a preview somehow, I cannot think of a very easy way.

 

Anyways, good win tonight, and that RPI keeps climbing.

[Dane Pound]

The next couple of weeks should help. I think teams can practice more hours a week than when classes are in session and that should benefit Ross. I'm sure he'd be happy to know that in his very limited playing time he's built his own fan club.